


Ringtones

by butterflysandbullets



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Insanity, M/M, Passive-aggression, Ringtones, Sentiment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 00:06:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflysandbullets/pseuds/butterflysandbullets
Summary: Why is Jim's ringtone Staying Alive?





	

  
  
  
  
  
  


When Jim was bored, he would mess with Sebastian’s phone. It was fun to watch the tall blonde man struggle to figure out how to change the settings back to English from Korean. Or how in the hell Jim knew his passcode… this time. Why the hell he would know the date of some obscure Canadian military battle was beyond Seb. But none the less, Jim had gotten into his phone and screwed with it again.

Jim wasn’t the type to leave little notes around the flat covered with flowery verse. Flowers, well yes. Verse, no. Death threats were more his style.

 

But when it came to his phone, Sebastian started to notice something different. Jim had not only begun to mess with the settings, change the contacts around, but he had begun to leave little messages. Ones that Sebastian knew were Jim’s true romantic side coming out.

Seb was meant to be standing in the back of the room observing. Not saying a word. Not doing anything but being a silent presence in the room. A reminder that Jim Moriarty may not have been there in the room, but he was always watching. He felt the vibration of his phone go off and he looked around the room at the noise it made after that. A moan. A single loud silence splitting noise. And it wasn’t just a moan, but it was Jim’s moan. When they were in bed together. Seb ignored it and glowered at anyone who looked his way. But when he hadn’t acknowledged it, it went off again. Seb fished his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, reading the single text from Jim. He was going to murder him when he got home. He silenced his phone and typed out a reply, putting his phone back into his pocket.

Jim rarely left his phone alone. It was almost always in his hand, like a permanent part of his body. But once in awhile, when he was tired or distracted, he would leave it somewhere in the flat. Seb decided that since Jim had gifted him with that little ringtone that was more embarrassing than anything, it was time for a little payback.

Jim’s taste in music fell into several different categories.  It was everything and anything under the sun. But Seb learned quickly there were a few things that even the great Jim Moriarty could abide. And American Country was one of them. Seb felt proud of himself that he was able to finally get into his phone and change the ringtones. And changing the names of them was the easy part. Keeping the grin off his face was harder.

Seb almost got away scott free when it finally happened. They were in the middle of a very tense negotiation with some hot headed Arabians. Arms trading with people like that was always tension filled to begin with, but add in the dash of homophobia and Jim’s over the top flamboyance… and it was a recipe for disaster.  Seb had forgotten what he had done until it was too late.

A simple text from Jackson, telling him that the rest of the sniper team was in place and well… Jim’s pocket began to sing. “Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart…” Jim’s attention snapped to SEbastian in one moment and he tried as hard as he could not to start laughing. When the message hadn’t been read, it repeated itself.  Jim pulled his phone out of his pocket and sighed. The man he had been threatening just a moment ago looked at him with confusion on his face.

“Billy Ray? Yes?”

“I have no idea.” Jim drawled. He put his phone back into his pocket and gave Sebastian another death glance.

“We love Billy Ray! Achy Breaky! You love Billy Ray! Alright Mr. Moriarty…” he said smiling. The other two members of his party began to sing a bad version of the song with their broken English and tried to do the little dance with it. Seb’s eyes were watering with the force that he was using not to laugh. “I agree. Your terms are fine. Friend of mine who likes Billy Ray!” And just like that, the tension had evaporated and it was all over.

Once they were in the car, Jim managed to threaten Sebastian in seventeen different ways, all with using a spoon. Seb just rolled his eyes at him and reminded him that in the end, it had all worked out fine. And it was just a reminder that messing with his own phone wasn’t liked either. Jim sulked for the rest of their trip.

 

The passive aggressive ringtone war went on for some time. They traded quips back and forth through their choices in ringtones. Said things they weren’t able to say with words. Jim telling Sebastian that his choice in clothing was poor by programming in “Thrift Shop” (2) and Seb retaliating with “Thong Song” (3) after Jim freaking out about find one in their daughter’s laundry.

The week that Sebastian’s normally strawberry blonde hair was a few shade lighter with “Barbie Girl” (4) and Jim’s perfectly understandable hatred for Justin Bebier with “Baby” (5).

Seb was tortured with a string of text messages that continued to play out “Ice Ice Baby” (6) after someone hit him in the ass with a pellet gun that caused him the inability to sit for a week or Jim’s inability to get over anything with “Let It Go” (7)  (which incidentally was a big hit with their young niece).

It backfired more than once on them. Jim thought that “Gangnam Style” (8) would be a virtual ice pick in Seb’s ears. However, Seb learned the dance and managed to perform it every time he got a message. Seb didn’t know that Jim secretly loved Rhianna and “Bitch Better Have My Money” (9) stayed on his phone for a long time. Jim thought it was helpful to his work environment.

“I’m too Sexy” (10) resulted with Sebastian walking around the flat topless for several days and talking in a ridiculous accent. But “I’m Sexy and I Know It” (11) wasn’t much better. Seb nearly strained his eyes with the amount of eye rolling he did while that song played on Jim’s phone.

  
  


But it wasn’t all fun and games. There were moments where neither of them could really say what was in their hearts. And they used ringtones to express it instead.

Sebastian knew that he was going to be away for a bit and programed in “Brown Eyed Girl” (12) to put a smile on Jim’s face when he texted him. It was a memory from their uni days, long before the empire and all their troubles began. Jim used their song, or at least the one that Seb claimed was there song for Sebastian, reminding him how much he loved him. “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” (13) was so sweet it almost made Seb cry when he heard it.

There were the moments that things in their relationship weren’t good and they needed to tell the other how much they still cared, even though they weren’t speaking at the time. Seb managed to find Jim sitting in his office crying one day after putting in “Nothing Compares 2 You” (14) after a row. “Your Eyes” (15) appeared on Seb’s phone when Jim spent an entire night blasting Seb’s… everything when he was in a poor mood. Seb had asked him to say one nice thing and Jim couldn’t.

Seb had a moment where he thought that Jim was done. That he was going to walk out the door after they had one of their very very rare knock down drag out fights. One that cost Seb a tooth and Jim a black eye. He snagged his phone while he was icing his face and put in “Let’s Stay Together” (16) and Jim did.

Things were sexy as well. Seb found that Jim would casually pick up his phone while they were working and change the ringtone to express what he really wanted from Seb, as he worked someone over and would text him something begin just to make it play. “Bad Things” (17) and “Love Me Dead” (18) had found their way into Seb’s play list from there.

Seb made no effort to hide that fact that he would indeed follow Jim to the ends of the earth and do anything asked of him. “Take Me To Church” (19) took no time at all to be one of Jim’s favorite songs after Seb reminded Jim of that fact.

 

But in the end, there were two ringtones that stayed on their phones for longer than any other songs.

  
  


The nickname Tiger had been born out of something that Sebastian’s mother had said once. That Sebastian had been like a wild cat, stalking through the house, trying to stay quiet and surprise his sister. “Always like a jungle cat, that one.” Katherine Spencer said. Jim had smiled at the sight and began to think that Sebastian was indeed like a cat. Calm. Smooth and well… just as deadly.

But it wasn’t until Jim had heard more about Dame Moran, the matriarch of the Moran family that it finally all clicked together for Jim. Dame Moran had called Sabrina Durga after the warrior goddess and Sebastian was her faithful tiger. And Jim smiled at that. Sebastian was indeed a tiger.

When Sebastian had been overseas in the Army, he had decided that he needed something to remind him that he was deadly and silent. A tattoo that he wanted to cover his back with became a bit of an obsession. And over a twenty four hour pass in Belgrade, he managed to cover his entire back with a large black tiger. The name had stuck.

Jim had been in awe the first time he had watched Sebastian work someone over, from the moment he had gotten a name to the moment that the man was tied up in a dark and dirty warehouse, begging for mercy. Sebastian had indeed been everything that Jim thought he would be and then some.

While sitting at home on a rainy afternoon, Jim was shuffling through his extensive music collection on his iPod. It had been a birthday gift from Sebastian. Taking time to put every song in their large music library on it and even creating playlists for Jim. He had come across one song that made him smile. He restarted the tune and listened to the words. It was exactly how Jim saw Sebastian when he was working.

 

Jim had sent Sebastian out on a job. Out of town. It had been hard for him to say goodbye to him and while the idea of being apart was never easy, it was more… normal now. Sebastian was working hard. The empire they were building together was growing. But Jim, being who he was, always saw things differently. They had a fight just a few days before about how Jim saw things and how Sebastian’s view was different.

“It’s even the way you see me Jim.” Seb said, putting his hands up in resignation.

“What do you mean by that?” Jim asked, trying hard to hide his shock at the statement. He thought that Sebastian knew he loved and cherished him. But he was terrible at showing it at times.

“I mean… you don’t look at me like you used to. It’s… it’s not the same and I have to wonder if I’m not just some poor excuse for a weapon for you Jim.”

“You are so much more than that. You know that Sebby.” Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“I am nothing more than a convenient person to do your dirty work.” Seb said before slamming out of the flat and spending several hours running.

That evening, things were calmer. Sebastian apologized and Jim went back to doing what it was that he did best. Working.

Seb had lined up his shot, checked his gages and waited. He had his phone sitting on the ledge, volume low. Other than the sound of the wind and the streets far below… there was nothing up there to hear. Perfectly quiet and Sebastian took a moment to enjoy it.

His target was in sight and within a few seconds of pulling the trigger, his phone lit up with a message. Seb knew it was going to be from Jim and he let it go for a moment before he realized that it was playing music. Something he normally didn’t keep his text messages set to. “Eye Of The Tiger”. (20) Seb shook his head and sighed.

Instead of just responding to the message, Seb took the time to call him back as he walked down the stairs to his ride.

“Eye of the Tiger, Jim?” he asked instead of a greeting.

“Well…. You got me. But you have to admit it’s adpt.”

“How do you figure?” Seb asked as he paused in his walk down the pavement and around the corner to light a cigarette.

“Did you listen?” Jim asked in his sing song lilt.

“To the song, yeah I know it.”

“No. Listen to it. I’ll send a car for you at the airport. I’ll be working.” He said before hanging up and Seb sighed, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

Seb sat on the plane, cramped up in coach. They had the money. He could have flown first class if not business. But he had opted to spend the time looking less than conspicuous. He pulled out his own iPod, mirrored with the same music that was on Jim’s. He pulled up the song and listened. Several times. For two hours. By the time he stepped onto British soil again, the song was seared into his memory.

He went home, into the flat and stowed his gear before heading towards the bedroom. “So you listened to it then.” Jim said flatly from where he was sitting in their bed, reading.

“Hmm? What?”

“You listened to the song.” Jim answered, putting his book to the side and looking over at Seb with nothing on his face.

“How do you know?” Seb asked, as he stopped to pull his shirt off.

“You were humming it.” Jim said with a smile as his eyes raked over Seb’s chest and stomach.

“I don’t see the point.”

“It’s how I see you. Especially when you are working.” Jim said simply with a shrug. He picked up his book again and began to read. Seb got under the hot water and thought about it. He smiled as he began to clean up. Jim really did see him as he was.

  
  


Seb had a belief that every person in the world had their own musical soundtrack that followed them like in a movie. Some were songs that they chose to mark a moment in time. Some were chosen for them by fate or by others. But when someone looked back on their life and remembered certain moments, there were always songs that would be associated with that moment in time.

When Jim’s lows hit… when they had first moved in together, Seb had a hard time dealing with it. He was so alone in what he was feeling and his own anxiety and depression crept up on him. He loved Jim and wanted to care for him in every way that he could. But he couldn’t battle Jim’s own mind.

Sebastian had a mixed tape that he had made to listen to while studying. He had several of them. And they were timed. Just so that he knew that every so often something more upbeat would come on and he could take a break. Get up. Move around.

Seb would often find himself putting in random mixes when he and Jim were sitting around the flat. And the first time that Jim came back to him after his… well… his brief time where he had checked out, they made love on Seb’s birthday, one mix was playing in the background. And Sebastian found that he understood things from Jim’s side a bit better. He understood the dark moods.

Jim tended to pop in one tape over the others and Seb never understood why that mix was more to his liking. But there it was.

Once Jim found that his own madness was taking over who he was, he hid most of it away from Sebastian. But one night… he explained it. It was just before the game with Sherlock started. He told Sebastian that he was depressed. That the blackness that was always just behind him was enveloping him. That he couldn’t keep it at bay as he had in the past. Sebastian wanted to help him. And Jim explained that there was one song on the mixtape that they played when they were younger that kept him grounded. And that’s why he loved it so much.

The day that Moriarty sat at his desk and gave Moran orders to hire enough snipers to fill a swimming pool and to kidnap Dr. John Watson, Sebastian knew that he had to do something. He waited until that evening, when Jim was busy picking out his tie for the meeting with Sherlock to do it. He picked up Jim’s phone and swapped out the ringtone.

When Sebastian finally walked into the flat that next early morning, after the close call at the pool, Jim walked up to Sebastian and smacked him across the face.

“How. Dare. You. Fuck. With. My. Phone.” he screamed. Sebastian resisted touching his face but he felt that it had worked. The song still held something for Jim. Even if his Jim was gone. And Moriarty was standing in his place.

For some reason Jim never changed it. “Staying Alive” (21) continued to play the entire time that Sebastian tried to reach Jim as he stood on the roof of St. Bart’s Hospital. And years later… when Jim returned, Seb found that he kept the same ringtone for him. And only him.

 

Jim and Sebastian were sitting at dinner one evening. Their daughter Bri was heading out to a fancy dress party for Halloween and she and her friends had decided to go with a 1970’s American theme. Bri sat down in her usual spot at the table, humming to herself as she picked long beans off of her father’s plate.

“Daddy… why is Staying Alive your ringtone for Papa?” she asked. Seb tilted his head.

“That’s an interesting question.” Seb said. “Why  _ is _ it still my ringtone? I would have thought you have put something else there now.”

“Nooo.” Jim sang. “It’s…” The playful look on his face disappeared. In it’s place was something more… fond and sad. “I told you once that the song helped me to remember that it was… that sometimes when the blackness came upon me, that it was possible to fight it. That you were my light and that I would be okay. As long as you and I were together.” Seb reached out for Jim’s hand and squeezed it.

“That’s lovely.” Seb said. He leaned over and kissed his husband. “I love you.”

“And I love you.”

“Blech.” Brighid said, rolling her eyes. “You two are disgusting.” The smile on her face showed different.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> List of songs... in order
> 
> 1) Achy Breaky Heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byQIPdHMpjc  
> 2) Thrift Shop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes  
> 3) Thong Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai1V7kaFBk  
> 4) Barbie Girl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhrYis509A  
> 5) Baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4  
> 6) Ice Ice Baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE  
> 7) Let It Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk  
> 8) Gangnam Style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0  
> 9) Bitch Better Have My Money https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NTaf0du78  
> 10) I'm Too Sexy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mtclwloEQ  
> 11) I'm Sexy And I Know It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE  
> 12) Brown Eyed Girl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfmkgQRmmeE  
> 13) I Can't Help Falling In Love With You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ThQkrXHdh4  
> 14) Nothing Compares 2 U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auUPqxI1vqg  
> 15) Your Eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3kFPBtc9BE  
> 16) Let's Stay Together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COiIC3A0ROM  
> 17) Bad Things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMPNjPpdjKU  
> 18) Love Me Dead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XH3oMNKApI  
> 19) Take Me To Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYSVMgRr6pw  
> 20) Eye Of The Tiger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4  
> 21) Staying Alive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY


End file.
